Newstalk Henry McKean?

Arpa

Henry McKean. You know the chap. Did the childbirth experience for Newstalk recently.

Although initially likeable something irks me about him and I want to get other peoples views.

34 years old, born in Cambridge but has lived in Ireland for the past 20 years. So when he was 14 he moved here. Don't know the full bio, not much info.
Yet he has this "Rather" English accent. Fine.

What I'm really trying to discover is...

He regularly does vox pops for Newstalk. Usually interviewing the odd "howiyah" flower-seller sort. He even did a TV3 show "The truth about travellers".
Given that and coupled with his British accent, I immediately thought he was being very clever in taking the pis*...never straying too far into actually making fun of people and always keeping on the side of journalistic interest. Somewhat like Louis Theroux.

However after seeing an interview with him on BBC, I have started to disbelieve that he is actually bluffing about being a bit dim and is in fact...a bit dim. What comes across as a feigned naivety in his reports I know think is actually because he is a bit naive... I am confused because usually journalists who interview 'certain strands of society' and who also have that middle class English accent seem to be surrepticious and nefarious in their objective.

Now, after delving a bit more, I think he's just a bit of a dim reporter who happens to have a British "posh" accent who paid for a Journalism degree from griffith College and blagged a job even though he's not very savvy in his field. But maybe I'm wrong and I'm missing something. Maybe Henry is in fact a suave reporter and has fooled me.

I ask you AH, because I'm teetering on my opinion of him and don't want to nail it shut in case I'm missing something.

Tell me please or else just go sunbathe.

Celly Smunt

Ah he's alright.

mikom

Arpa wrote: »

Somewhat like Louis Theroux.

Never mention Henry McKean and Louis Theroux in the same post again please.

Menas

He seems all right to me. A dim reporter on newstalk would be an Einstein on 98fm.

iDave

Arpa wrote: »

paid for a Journalism degree from griffith College .

hahaha, dont say that directly to a GCD grad/under grad it really irks them. they might even tell their Daddys on you!

ScumLord

I've never really put that much thought into him, his on the radio for a few minutes a day. Bottom line is I don't care either way.

Celly Smunt

iDave wrote: »

hahaha, dont say that directly to a GCD grad/under grad it really irks them. they might even tell their Daddys on you!

Ah there's just something wrong with paying for arts degrees.

becost

Arpa wrote: »

Henry McKean. You know the chap. Did the childbirth experience for Newstalk recently.

Although initially likeable something irks me about him and I want to get other peoples views.

34 years old, born in Cambridge but has lived in Ireland for the past 20 years. So when he was 14 he moved here. Don't know the full bio, not much info.
Yet he has this "Rather" English accent. Fine.

What I'm really trying to discover is...

He regularly does vox pops for Newstalk. Usually interviewing the odd "howiyah" flower-seller sort. He even did a TV3 show "The truth about travellers".
Given that and coupled with his British accent, I immediately thought he was being very clever in taking the pis*...never straying too far into actually making fun of people and always keeping on the side of journalistic interest. Somewhat like Louis Theroux.

However after seeing an interview with him on BBC, I have started to disbelieve that he is actually bluffing about being a bit dim and is in fact...a bit dim. What comes across as a feigned naivety in his reports I know think is actually because he is a bit naive... I am confused because usually journalists who interview 'certain strands of society' and who also have that middle class English accent seem to be surrepticious and nefarious in their objective.

Now, after delving a bit more, I think he's just a bit of a dim reporter who happens to have a British "posh" accent who paid for a Journalism degree from griffith College and blagged a job even though he's not very savvy in his field. But maybe I'm wrong and I'm missing something. Maybe Henry is in fact a suave reporter and has fooled me.

I ask you AH, because I'm teetering on my opinion of him and don't want to nail it shut in case I'm missing something.

Tell me please or else just go sunbathe.

So do tons of south-side Dubliners who were born and grew up here.

**Vai**

Cant stand listening to his vox pops. Always turn the radio off when they start.

Im sure hes a nice fella but hes no Louis Theroux.

Arpa

**Vai** wrote: »

Cant stand listening to his vox pops. Always turn the radio off when they start.

Im sure hes a nice fella but hes no Louis Theroux.

Nah didn't mean they are even in the same league but what I believe he's tyring to do is use his naive English Cambridge persona to infiltrate the marginal parts of society.

What has me confused is...is he doing that...or is he just actually naive?

AnonoBoy

How dare someone who grew up in Cambridge have an English accent!

Owenw

Maybe it's because he comes across as affable and non-judgemental that gets those personal insights with absolute strangers where a seemingly cynical journo would be told to sling their hook?

I think his investigations suit the lighthearted tone of the Moncrief show.

His accent doesn't annoy me half a much as, for instance, Miriam O' Callahan's 'dortspeak' drawl.

Karl Stein

Seems like an affable enough sorta guy. Don't think about it too much.

Celly Smunt

Moncreiff goes through my brain sometimes yet I always listen,I like getting the odd dinner tip off Paolo when he's on though.

aphex™

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

Seems like an affable enough sorta guy. Don't think about it too much.

Exactly. Why start a thread about it? None of the issues mentioned in the OP add up to anything, at all.

mike65

I find his 'happy clappy' annoying but that's part of his media shtick I think. All media types end up adopting a persona to some degree or other (just as boards users do).

Lady Chatterton

Henry reminds me of a younger version of RTE's Paddy O'Gorman.

I Heart Internet

mike65 wrote: »

I find his 'happy clappy' annoying but that's part of his media shtick I think. All media types end up adopting a persona to some degree or other (just as boards users do).

Classic mike65 post right there.

Stone Deaf 4evr

MrsD007 wrote: »

Henry reminds me of a younger version of RTE's Paddy O'Gorman.

now there's a weirdo, he'd go up to a gang of travellers or some such and be saying things like "and why are ye doing such and such - ye're very beautiful girls"

mike65

mike65 wrote: »

I find his 'happy clappy' annoying but that's part of his media shtick I think. All media types end up adopting a persona to some degree or other (just as boards users do).

MrsD007 wrote: »

Henry reminds me of a younger version of RTE's Paddy O'Gorman.

MrsD007 is a good example - I now associate her with the exquisite Audrey Hepburn and golden age Hollywood when she could look like and have the table manners of Mrs Brown.

conorhal

He's the broadcasting equivelent of navel lint, harmless lightweight fluff.

Arpa

aphex™ wrote: »

Exactly. Why start a thread about it? None of the issues mentioned in the OP add up to anything, at all.

Alright...don't get your knickers in a twist.

Why start a thread about it? - Because I had a thought, I have a keyboard and a brain. Put those together and you have a means of communication. Starting a thread is my prerogative...commenting on it is yours.

My post didn't add up to anything? - Read it again. It's probably a bit verbose but essentially I'm asking is Henry McKean using his faux naive Cambridge accent to play dumb and win the confidence of his subjects or is he actually a little naive himself and is conducting things in honesty...

padd b1975

AnonoBoy wrote: »

How dare someone who grew up in Cambridge have an English accent!

Coming over here with their accents and........eh.........sounding English!

SEPT 23 1989

the black and khaki outfits he sports are a bit much

expectationlost

his accent and tone make him sound incredibly condescending, and don't think its just the accent

harry Bailey esq

ah he's not the worst of them to be fair,i actually like the voxpops sometimes.today he had some clown on that was drinking out on the beach.the junkies make me laugh,occasionally he finds a smackhead philosopher with amazing intellect and wit.his Saturday morning show is a pile of arse though.

sadie06

I think it's an interesting question. I like Henry, and while I agree that his accent is probably disarming, and encourages people to chat to him, I think it is his non-judgemental attitude that is his real calling card as a journalist.

What was the content of the piece that made you feel he was a bit 'dim'?

Teyla Emmagan

I quite like his pieces, there's no subterfuge about them. He seems to be a genuinely nice fella, though I have had the dim suspicions once or twice about him as well. But at the same time, he's still smarter than 90% of people in radio.

**Vai**

expectationlost wrote: »

his accent and tone make him sound incredibly condescending, and don't think its just the accent

That is very true. He also seems to find the dregs of society to interview. Maybe that's for entertainment purposes but I don't find scum bragging about how much they are drinking in the sunny weather to be very entertaining.

Sunhill

Have to tune out when he comes on, TBH. Actually Moncrief never seems to have managed to lose the accent he picked up in the Tech and when he is introducing his roving reporter he makes the name sound like 'Henry Mickeen' so I always thought he was from West Cork.

dd972

becost wrote: »

So do tons of south-side Dubliners who were born and grew up here.

It's a curious accent as well, as English as humanly possible yet still an Irish accent.

Henry McKean's accent isn't as bad as Pat Dolan's dreadful Estuary English dirge though.

AlekSmart

Arpa wrote: »

Henry McKean. .

Although initially likeable something irks me about him and I want to get other peoples views.

I ask you AH, because I'm teetering on my opinion of him and don't want to nail it shut in case I'm missing something.

Tell me please or else just go sunbathe.

Here's a 1.5Kg Hammer and a pack of Flathead Nails...do please feel free to hammer away to your hearts content....Oh and I have a wooden stake as well,just in case...:o

JJayoo

Can't stand his accent.

Hootanany

He Voxpopped me once is there anywhere i can find it like a podcast or something.

expectationlost

his accent is genuine, he isn't

Birroc

I like him.

The world is a better place with him in it.

AnonoBoy

expectationlost wrote: »

his accent is genuine, he isn't

I imagine so.

Only the mentally unwell would affect an accent like that surely.

bcmf

Didnt he attempt to break the record of the amount of Creme Eggs eaten in a minute many moons ago on Moncrieff.
I think he failed but certainly stuffed himself trying.

Sand

He's not the worst. Newstalk is home to a host of extremely irritating presenters (Moncrief's kee-razy act, Hook slobbering all over his mike, Marc Coleman ranting on and on and on and on and on about his pet issues). I don't give it too much attention, but Henry McKean is actually okay by comparison.

returnNull

Sand wrote: »

He's not the worst. Newstalk is home to a host of extremely irritating presenters (Moncrief's kee-razy act, Hook slobbering all over his mike, Marc Coleman ranting on and on and on and on and on about his pet issues)

and dont forget that fuktard tom dunne from some sh1te irish band waffling about his fukking children all the time.Off the ball was class but they all left.

Heartland

I have injured myself on more than one occasion sprinting across a room to turn off whatever device his voice is coming out of. Cannot stand listening to him. Might be a lovely guy, just really pushes my buttons. I like him even less than Orla Barry. No, really.

armchair fusilier

Henry is OK, but I can't stand the vox pops - too Liveline like.

igorbiscan

poor henry seems he's only after been born...no clue seemingly about anything..nice chap all the same..whats with george hook and his heavy breathing into the mic,really distracting..

jr22

MrsD007 wrote: »

Henry reminds me of a younger version of RTE's Paddy O'Gorman.

The younger version of Paddy O'Gorman is Brian O'Connell. They compete for the poverty porn slot on Pat Kenny's show.

Cienciano

Henry is harmless, but his show "Truth about Travellers" was woeful. Moncrieff is great though. Even though I haven't listened in about 2 years.

Hootanany

Thanks for the help

Toby Take a Bow

Sand wrote: »

He's not the worst. Newstalk is home to a host of extremely irritating presenters (Moncrief's kee-razy act, Hook slobbering all over his mike, Marc Coleman ranting on and on and on and on and on about his pet issues). I don't give it too much attention, but Henry McKean is actually okay by comparison.

And that guy on in the morning. He has a bizarre way of pronouncing his T's. It's like he's adding a couple of D's and H's for no reason whatsoever. And it's not even where there's a silent H.

Diabhal Beag

If you dislike Henry you almost certainly haven't heard his mother before on the "3 old ladies talk to Seán about the news" segment. Just awful stuff.

Do like Henry myself though, but even if I didn't I'd still listen for Seán himself. Maybe the best broadcaster on Irish radio.

suicide_circus

i guess i can see the appeal..

Bobby Kerr however is a travesty

Karl Stein

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I'd still listen for Seán himself. Maybe the best broadcaster on Irish radio.

By a country mile. He can switch between philosophical matters and daftness effortlessly.

shaka

When moncrief has him on I switch over.. Never liked the fella find him irritating